Volantis

Ocean voyages were maddeningly dull.

The voyage from the Smoking Sea to Volantis spanned two hundred leagues, roughly nine hundred and sixty kilometers. After more than a month of wind, waves, and relentless monotony, the fleet finally reached the vast, bustling delta at the mouth of the Rhoyne and caught sight of the magnificent city sprawling across the sandbanks: Volantis.

The broad Rhoyne divided Volantis in two.

The eastern city was home to nobles of the old blood, enclosed within an oval wall of black stone two hundred feet high.

The western city was a seething urban melting pot. Merchants, mercenaries, whores, thieves, performers... people of every kind mingled in the narrow streets and clamorous markets, where the air reeked of spices, sweat, and cheap liquor.

The two halves were linked by a long bridge with an enormous span, wide enough for two four-wheeled carriages to pass side by side.

Once the fleet docked, Liu Qian, whose injuries had fully healed, told Jelena to buy seaworthy ships at the harbor to replace the battered sailing vessels they had acquired in the Valyrian Ruins, while also replenishing their supplies of fresh water and food.

Liu Qian and Janice, meanwhile, planned to buy some slaves at the slave market.

With Janice practically overflowing with curiosity and thirty Dragon Spirit Guardians as silent as iron at his back, he stepped into the bustle of the western city.

Countless footsteps had worn the great white paving stones smooth.

Janice stared wide-eyed at everything around her. The streets were filled with hawking vendors, acrobats, and people in outlandish clothing... To a girl who had grown up among ruins, this place was like a strange, fantastical dream.

At the market entrance, several travel-worn mercenaries in faded leather armor waved a crude wooden sign and shouted at the top of their lungs, "The Windblown are recruiting brave fighters! Generous pay! An opportunity you can't miss...!"

Liu Qian paused briefly.

The Windblown? The Ragged Prince's men?

He gave them another couple of glances. The mercenaries were clearly having little success; even shouting themselves hoarse failed to draw anyone to their stall.

Liu Qian did not linger. He headed straight for the slave market.

A pungent stench of sweat struck him as he entered the square.

A slave trader with a brutish face was brandishing a long whip, lashing and driving along a group of ragged, sallow, emaciated slaves while spewing an unending stream of abuse.

Seeing Liu Qian's fine clothing and youthful Eastern face, the lively, curious little girl beside him, and the thirty heavily armored guards radiating a cold, murderous menace behind him, the slave trader immediately changed his expression. He plastered on a fawning smile and trotted over.

"Good day, honored master. How may I serve you? Are you looking for a few clever servants, or some strong laborers?"

Liu Qian swept his gaze over the cowering slaves behind him. "How many do you have?"

"You've come to the right man, master," the slave trader said, puffing out his chest. "These two hundred in the square are only a portion. There are another thirteen hundred inside. They're all quality stock-men and women, young and old, from all sorts of places. Satisfaction guaranteed."

Watching Liu Qian's expressionless face, the slave trader slowly extended five stubby fingers, his face blooming into a broad grin. "Just five Glowcoins per slave. An honest price for everyone."

Liu Qian's gaze turned cold.

He had been sold out of this very place. How could he not know the going rate?

The Glowcoins of Volantis were small and thin. Though their purchasing power fell far short of Westeros's Golden Dragons, they were worth more than silver moons.

"One Glowcoin per slave. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss."

He made to turn and leave.

"Oh! Master, please wait..." The slave trader hurriedly caught Liu Qian's sleeve, forcing a look of shrewd reluctance onto his face. "One Glowcoin each... that price really is... Ah, since you're such a substantial buyer, how about this? One Glowcoin each, but you must take all fifteen hundred. What do you say?"

Fifteen hundred? Liu Qian considered it briefly.

The Stepstones had a harsh environment, and the initial construction work would indeed require a great deal of labor.

He gave a slight nod and gestured behind him.

Several Dragon Spirit Guardians immediately carried over more than a dozen heavy wooden chests and set them on the ground with a clunk.

The chests opened to reveal piles of golden Glowcoins gleaming in the sunlight, nearly dazzling the slave trader.

He reached out greedily to touch them, only for a Dragon Spirit Guardian's cold gauntlet to block his hand without mercy.

"Count them all. Then we settle the transaction." Liu Qian's tone brooked no argument.

"Yes! Yes! Right away! Right away!" The slave trader bowed and nodded, immediately sending men to fetch the others.

Before long, a dense crowd filled the square.

The Dragon Spirit Guardians worked with remarkable efficiency, completing their count silently and precisely: exactly fifteen hundred slaves.

Liu Qian's gaze swept across the numb, frightened crowd of foreign faces: Lhazareen, Dothraki, dark-skinned natives of the Summer Isles, islanders from the Basilisk Isles... Suddenly, his eyes settled on several figures huddled in a corner.

Black hair, black eyes, Eastern faces.

Liu Qian walked over and spoke in fluent Yidi speech. "Are you from Yidi?"

The slaves trembled, their faces showing alarm mingled with fear and bewilderment.

Under the gazes of the others, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties slowly stepped forward. His worn clothing could not conceal his composed bearing.

Unlike the others, his eyes were not dull and numb. Instead, they held a hint of cautious scrutiny.

"Yes, my lord."

The man bowed slightly, his Yidi accent pure. "We are all from Yidi."

"Where in Yidi? How did you end up here?" Liu Qian pressed.

The man gestured at himself and the people behind him. "My name is Rowan. I come from Yidu. These are my attendants and maids, from Yiqi, Tiqu, and Thunder Island respectively. We were merchants traveling between the Jade Sea and the Summer Sea. While docked at Naath to replenish our supplies, we were unfortunately caught in a conflict between local lords. Our entire guard was lost, our goods were plundered, and we were taken captive. After passing through several hands, we were sold here in Volantis."

He recounted their tragic ordeal in an unusually calm voice, as though telling a story that had nothing to do with him.

Rowan? Liu Qian silently committed the name to memory.

Liu Qian's gaze passed over the Yidi slaves behind Rowan: two men and three women.

The two young men were around twenty, tall and straight-backed, their knotted muscles taut like cheetahs poised to spring.

Among the three women, two slave girls of seventeen or eighteen had ordinary

looks, with the numbness and exhaustion common among slaves.

The third was a girl around Liu Qian's age. Dark red, twisted, crisscrossing scars covered her face, leaving only a pair of calm black eyes.

Without betraying anything, Liu Qian nodded and motioned for the Dragon Spirit Guardians to take everyone back to the harbor.

He and Janice turned and left the clamorous slave market.

"What's wrong?" Janice had keenly sensed that something was off.

"Nothing." Liu Qian smiled and shook his head reassuringly.

Yet waves of suspicion churned within him.

Just moments earlier, when his gaze had fallen on those Yidi slaves, his keen senses had caught an exceedingly faint ripple of magic.

The aura was concealed and obscure. Had he not only just arrived in Volantis, he might almost have suspected that an assassin of the Faceless Men was hiding among them.

Liu Qian chose not to raise an alarm. Even if there was something unusual about these people, they posed no threat to him now.

He could not help growing curious. Who were these Yidi people with traces of magic about them, really?

The two returned to the bustling harbor.

Jelena had acted swiftly and decisively. A brand-new sailing ship with towering masts was already moored nearby, its enormous sails swelling and flapping in the sea breeze with sharp snaps.

On the dock, the Dragon Spirit Guardians worked like tireless ants, transferring mountains of supplies from the old ships to the new one.

Even the heavy, mysterious black stone had been securely wrapped in a vast length of linen and was carefully carried into the new ship's hold by several guards.

Liu Qian told Janice to return to the cabin and join her older sister, while he remained on deck to supervise the slaves boarding and the transfer of the last supplies.

Just then, a shrill, almost frenzied woman's voice pierced the noise of the harbor and stabbed into his ears.

"Look to the stars! The stars blot out the sun! The Long Night has no end! Doom is upon us!"

Liu Qian looked toward the voice.

Not far away, a woman in black-and-red robes stood on a crude platform made of stacked wooden crates.

Her long hair hung loose, and her eyes were fanatical and hollow. Waving her scrawny arms, she screamed hoarsely at the bewildered or jeering crowd below.

"Lord of Awakening! Break your chains! Let blood become the sea! Scour the mortal world!"

Liu Qian knitted his brows and muttered, "What a lunatic... what the hell is she babbling about...?"

"Coming through, coming through..." A gruff voice abruptly sounded beside him.

Liu Qian glanced sideways and saw an old man, short and fat as a wine barrel, wearing a strange grin as he shoved his way through the crowd and drew close.